The Pittsburgh Crosbys, ahem, I mean the Penguins and Sidney Crosby, right, outplayed Buffalo for most of the game tonight. The Sabres, in their soft, lazy effort only managed nineteen shots- and only two in the second period.
Buffalo looked poised to extend their losing streak to four games. Thank Heaven for the Captain Connection on our hero line for helping us force overtime. With Ryan Miller pulled, the Penguins had multiple chances of putting in the clincher, but Buffalo played with some grit and kept the puck out of the net.
Racing to the end with twenty seconds left, Buffalo dumped the puck in and organized a rush. Jochen Hecht pinched the puck in and Danny Briere picked it up behind the net. Briere waited for fellow Captain Chris Drury to sneak in front and fed him a perfect pass that Drury one-timed past Penguin keeper Marc-Andre Fleury.
Who says Drury isn't as clutch as he ever was?
The two Captains, right, showed why they alternate the 'C' and the 'A' tonight. They brought their game and hopefully this small step is part of a big step- a winning streak.
Buffalo is on a four game road trip, and in the middle of a three day three game stretch.
Tomorrow, Buffalo takes on a surging Florida Panther team. Florida, though seeded near the bottom of the Conference, is only five points out of the playoff race- and they're playing like it. Since Gary Roberts was traded to Pittsburgh, Florida has been playing excellent hockey, illustrated by their 16 points(7-1-2) in their last ten games.
Buffalo has typically had a tough time against Florida this year, and hopefully they can turn that along with their winless streak around. Buffalo has not fared well as of late to teams fighting for a playoff spot but I wouldn't be surprised if Lindy Ruff finally lit a fire under Thomas Vanek's lazy butt and they all come to play.
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